Kelowna theatre: go big or go home
Your chances of seeing a Broadway musical or other top-shelf acts in Kelowna is one step closer.
Kelowna city council has approved adding $1 million to its updated 10-year capital plan for consultation and schematic designs for a 1,200-seat performing arts centre to replace the aging Kelowna Community Theatre.
And no one is more excited about the news than Myles Bruckal, president of the Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre, a society that has been advocating for a new building.
“Would through the roof be too strong?” he quipped about the society’s response to the news.
However, the Citizens think the city has already got one number wrong and will lobby to change it: A new facility should seat 1,600 people with another 300 in a smaller secondary theatre.
The theatre was built 60 years ago for a population of about 25,000, he points out. Now there are close to 200,000 people in the region.
“The KCT was visionary in its day,” said Robert Parlane, Kelowna’s parks and buildings planning manager in the recent presentation to council. “The seating capacity, the stage, the fly tower and stage access all greatly limit the scale and type of shows that the theatre can accommodate.”
Bruckal said they are hoping for an iconic facility that becomes a recognized piece of the Kelowna skyline, something as distinct as the Sydney Opera House.
The Citizens see the proposed performing arts centre serving the Okanagan and had a capacity study done that demonstrates the new centre could support 1,600 seats rather than what the city is considering.
“For us, that’s exciting because 1,600 puts you into a different category, where you’re going to get much bigger shows, more prominent performers,” said Bruckal, who added the new performing arts centre could also attract some larger Broadway-type shows such as Come From Away and speakers such as Michelle Obama.
Currently, speakers and performers go on tour to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, but will skip Kelowna because it doesn’t have the capacity, said Bruckal.
The proposed centre would be built at Water Street and Doyle Avenue in downtown Kelowna where the current Kelowna Community Theatre sits.
Because the extra seating for their version of the theatre would be in the balconies, Bruckal said it would not impact the footprint of the building but would make it taller.
The building will house practice areas, new change rooms, more storage for art paraphernalia, and staging so that productions would have enough room to have the proper backdrops when they perform.